Bandits grab cash, beat woman during Belle West robbery

Jun 03, 2022 News

– police trace getaway car to house in Parfaite Harmonie

By Shervin Belgrave

Kaieteur News – A family of three, a husband, his wife and son had a nightmarish encounter on Tuesday with two gunmen who invaded a supermarket they had recently opened at Belle West, West Bank Demerara (WBD), Region Three and robbed them of cash, phone cards and cell phones.

One of the bandits cleaning up the cash register at Dollar Smart Supermarket

In fact, one of gunmen used his weapon to assault the wife, a businesswoman identified as, Shamina Khan, 38, after she was a bit reluctant to open the cash register. Khan and her husband had recently invested in the Dollar Smart Supermarket at Belle West but were not prepared to be a target for bandits.
On Tuesday, around 14:00hrs, they were sitting in their business place with their son when two masked men entered. Kaieteur News was told that Khan was sitting at the cashier booth located just at entrance when one of the bandits pointed a gun at her and instructed that she open the cash register. Khan reportedly panicked and was a bit reluctant to comply and the man decided to hit her to the head with the weapon as his accomplice roughed them up.
The victims recalled that they were forced to lie on the ground. One of the men made his way behind the counter, and managed to open the cash register. CCTV footage from within the building captured the criminals cleaning all of the sales from the cash register. He was masked, had on a cap and dressed in a white long- sleeved jersey along with a pair of black jeans.
According to the victims, the gunmen “searched them up” and took their cellular phones before grabbing a bag containing some $73,000 in cash and running out of the supermarket. As they were escaping, Khan’s husband got up and ran outside only to see that the bandits were heading to a waiting burgundy coloured car parked a short distance away from the supermarket.
Kaieteur News was told that the man headed to his car, started it and began to drive behind the bandits. His wife, Khan dialed 911 to report that they had just been robbed; however, the woman related that she was very disappointed at the response she got. Instead of dispatching ranks to back up her husband, she was questioned about what was stolen and advised to report the matter to the La Grange Police Station.
Nevertheless, her husband reportedly continued the chase alone but decided to give up as the men turned into La Parfaite Harmonie. The victims said that as the bandit’s car was heading into the area, one of the gunmen attempted to shoot at him. After the attempt was made, Khan’s husband decided that it was not wise to continue the chase because he was not acquainted with the La Parfaite Harmonie area.
Speaking with Kaieteur News, Region Three Commander, Mahendra Siwnarine said that his detectives have since traced the get-away car to a house located in La Parfaite Harmonie. Detectives have showed up at the location twice but no one was home. They however, managed to arrest a man but the individual was able to provide an alibi that he was in Linden at the time of the robbery. Investigations are on ongoing.

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